Tribute to Ann Young Williams

Sadly we must record the passing of a noted fellow musician, but joyfully we must celebrate the considerable contributions of that musician to our part of the world over a long and distinguished musical career.  We'll not try here to reprise the accounts of the life of Ann Young that have appeared in several major central Ohio journals since her passing in March, as these already have been seen and read by the many of her fans that are now reading this humble paper. But it is Ann's dedication to the music and musicians, her performances with groups that we know and have known, and particularly her support and encouragement for COHJS that we wish to commemorate and firmly lodge in our memories.

Her long and dedicated career with the Chuck Selby orchestra at Valleydale and elsewhere in our region are well remembered by those of our COHJS members who were around at that early time, as are her more recent ventures with her own smaller groups in numerous local venues. Notable in our memory are the several years of Holiday Inn-on-the-Lane sessions with the Ann Young Trio alternating Tuesday evenings with Mike Evans' Toll House Jazz Band. In addition to performing with her own group on her own nights, as often as not she would attend the Toll House alternate Tuesday gig, even sitting in to sing a few tunes with the band, to the enjoyment of all present. Ann also was a member and frequent attendee at COHJS events, both before and after her marriage to Dr. Tennyson Williams, and she and "Tenny" were always very positive in their enthusiastic support of the COHJS mission.


We take this public opportunity to pay tribute and honor the life and memory of Ann Young.

The above article appeared in the May 2011 COHJS Hot Sheet Newsletter

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From the Columbus Dispatch, March 29, 2011

Passage | Anne Young
Jazz singer a local favorite
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 03:06 AM
By Amy Saunders, The Columbus Dispatch

Even as her health began to fade, Anne Young remained as dedicated to performance as she had been nearly all her life.

The jazz singer, with a career spanning almost seven decades, died last week.

Eight days earlier, the 83-year-old had used a walker to take the stage for the usual Anne Young Trio gig at Jimmy V's Grill & Pub in Westerville.

"She could hardly move, but, when she sat down at the stool, it was just like 'OK, it's showtime,'" keyboardist Andy Launer said. "She would never miss a gig."

Born in Marion as Ann Youngblood, she later adopted the stage name Anne Young.

She began performing while still in high school, singing six nights a week at a Mount Vernon club. In the 1950s, she was hired as the featured vocalist in the Chuck Selby Orchestra - the well-known house band at the Valley Dale Ballroom.

After the 1979 death of Selby, whom she had married, she assumed leadership of the band for a decade before starting the Anne Young Trio.

The group performed most recently at the Holiday Inn on Lane Avenue, then Jimmy V's.

With few groups still playing big-band music, the trio always attracted a regular audience, said Mario Nedefkoki, owner of Jimmy V's.

"They thought she had an unusual and great voice," said Tennyson Williams, who married Young in 2009.

"But I suspect the real clinching thing was her personality. It was her grace."